Part identification is a necessary step in any manufacturing operation. This might be as simple as a label on the shipping box, but more often shops are required to mark each component, especially those used in automotive, aerospace, or medical applications.
Laser 3D printing and marking systems are among the heavy-duty cutting and welding systems that had been scheduled for the IMTS Fabricating and Laser Pavilion—testament to the growing impact of what once might have been viewed as ancillary processes.
Fiber laser welding continues to grow as it improves in weld quality, reliability and performance. Many fiber laser welding applications are autogenous, where the weld is formed entirely by melting parts of the base metal and no additional filler wire or powder is used
Rich, General Motors recently invested in 17 production-grade FDM printers, intending to use them for 3D-printed tooling. The term “tooling” is quite broad, however. Can you share details about what types of tooling GM and others are 3D printing, and why?
Risk-management technology is beginning to help manufacturers cope with the supply-chain upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Thomas Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management: “We are a lot better at managing risk than even 10 years ago.”
Avoiding product defects—and quickly finding and fixing those that occur—is a critical priority for all manufacturers.
Tacoma, Washington-based Tool Gauge manufactures precision metal and plastic components and assemblies for the aerospace industry.
Composite materials consist of fibers—in the aerospace industry, they are typically glass, carbon or kevlar—suspended in a matrix of epoxy resin.
The concept of the digital twin in A&D was born in the 1970s, when NASA began employing full-scale virtual mock-ups of space capsules to forecast the performance of machines in outer space.
To a discrete manufacturer, process manufacturing is odd territory indeed. It’s a world in which textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, plastics, and food and beverage are produced en masse.